Sheldon Souray's fate could be decided tonight...

When the Canadiens lace up tonight at 7:30 PM EST at the Bell Centre and when fans like you and I turn on our television screen to watch tonight's anticipated matchup between Montreal and Toronto, will know the future of Sheldon Souray.

Barring Souray is traded within the next 2 hours, he will suit up to face the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight in front of another Bell Centre sellout crowd, wearing no. 44 on his back and donning the storied "CH" logo on his chest.

Tonight promises to be a great game with both teams still in playoff contention; the Maple Leafs are one point back of Montreal and in 10th whereas the Canadiens sit tied for 8th in the 9th spot and only 2 points from the 6th spot.

You will know Sheldon Souray's fate around 10:00 PM, when the game will be drawing to a close. It all depends on tonight's game score, if Montreal wins (which is a must for them), they will continue to push up in the standings in hope of catching the Islanders, Hurricanes, Thrashers and Senators ahead of them. A Montreal loss will put the Canadiens in 10th place and depending on the outcome of the other games, may devestate their playoff hopes as they have played more games than most of the Eastern Conference teams in the race.

So how does this apply to Souray? Simple: Montreal loses, Canadiens GM Bob Gainey would likely contemplate seriously trading him the next day since his team has fallen lower in the standings and keeping him would result in losing him to free-agency.
I'm sure Gainey, as we have seen with Tkachuk and Rivet, wouldn't pass up an opportunity to get young prospects and a draft choice for him

Or, a Montreal win (with eventual help from Souray) might, just might show Mr. Gainey that the team can still make it, still have what it takes and that Sheldon Souray is key to their playoff hopes.

If he truly believes that, Gainey will stay put tomorrow, devastating many fans and probably other GM's around North America who are longing to see where the shot-pounding defenceman will end up, and gamble on the team's playoff hopes by potentially losing Souray for nothing.

This is just my opinion, but, who knows what Bob Gainey is thinking?
One way or another, tonight might be the last we see of no.44 in bleu, blanc et rouge.

Sheldon Souray is an UFA on July 1st and he will likely command the cap max for his services.

Hoping Gainey will do the right thing, this is...

Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.